Occupy Sydney Headline Animator

Monday, 14 December 2015

On December 15th Australia waited in anticipation for then treasurer Joe Hockey to make his mid year budget statement. His government who market themselves on fiscal prudence were about to announce a horror $40 billion budget deficit. Then out of left field a man with a curious history of dealings with government departments appeared out of left field and took hostages in Lindt Café in Martin Place. As in 2001 when the 9-11 distraction turned the political fortunes of the Howard government from oblivion to re-election the Lindt siege was exactly what the Abbott/Hockey government needed to distract the public with fear from the "budget horribilus".

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Man Haron Monis was investigated by ASIO as many as four times and on an ASIO watch list in 2008-2009 then removed. No reasons are publicly given for his removal. A litany of apparent government systemic failures saw Australia not respond affirmatively to an Iranian government request for his extradition on serious criminal charges and other errors of fortune for Monis which saw him freed on bail on accessory to murder and over 40 charges of sexual molestation which were pending. Was he controlled by ASIO or other government agents? We don't know.

We know first hand that there was a major military training exercise by counter terrorism units at this location on 30 April / 1st May 2013 on the very block where Lindt Café is. The then 24-7 Occupy Sydney occupation were surrounded by it.

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We do know that the Lindt Café siege which killed two innocent civilians and left Monis incapacitated to tell tales by death, clearly demonstrated the incapacity of Australian State and Federal Police military and security agencies to deal effectively with an apparent lone wolf hostage event. This failure comes 13 years after the 9-11 attacks in New York were used as a pretext to pass a raft of laws which gave police extraordinary powers to deal with much more professionally organised incidents than this.

The N.S.W. police response might well have used an episode of the Keystone Cops as an instruction manual, so inept were their responses. Why for example did they not utilise the undoubted skills. The roof of the lower section of the then Westpac building diagonally opposite Lindt café provides an ideal position for a marksman to selectively target an individual in Lindt Café. If police don't have such skills then the military certainly do. Did the failure to deploy such marksmen at this and other available locations sign the death warrants of the innocent Lindt café manager and lawyer whose unfortunate choice of timing put her in the wrong place at the wrong time?

For the Abbott government the Lindt café siege succeeded in taking the heat off them and their toxic budget. Falsehoods such as Hockey's use of the wheat price to justify the budget blowout went unexamined. The mainstream media had world coverage and a rapt publics attention which drove their ratings and advertising value into positive territory. State and federal police were able to use the public fear driven tactics that flowed from the Port Arthur massacre to get more funding and powers to the delight of their political masters. Government should control the people - not the people control the government. As the Liberal National and Labor parties desire the relationship to be.

So on the 15th December 2015 N.S.W. Premier Mike Baird's garish display will commemorate not an act of terrorism on Australian soil but

Saturday, 12 December 2015

Carinda was a stable farming community where multi generational locals managed their properties largely in sympathy with the local ecosystem and respectfully of each other.

That all changed when ruthless Agribusiness Harris Brothers, trading locally as Budvalt, came to town. This is a peep into the window of Budvalt and its contemptible conduct on the properties which it has acquired. It's doubtlessly extermely profitable for them and they pursue those profits without concern for the consequences to locals or the impacts their farming methods have on community water sercurity .

It seems multiple layers of government whom we are told have oversight may be sleeping.

Harris first Carinda acquisition was Miralwyn from an American broadacre developer. Since then they have snapped up Swires historic Brewon and Rumleigh Stations.(Harris also acquired Swires

An area of the Brewon property known as Warnocks paddock once grew lush Mitchell grass described by those who value it as a dry weather stock feed as the finest example in Australia. Over local community objections aided and abbetted by government intransigence Harris ploughed the mitchell grass including the local stock route which has right of way across their property turning it into another monocultural desert of wheat. There is some justice- the crop failed.

The Harris's Rumleigh property received a curious water allocation from then Water Minister and local MP Kevin Humphries. As part of this process an "aboriginal consultant" from Narrabri was brought in to sign off on aboriginal concerns without reference to the local and directly impacted Brewarrina aboriginal community. The famous ancient Brewarrina Fish traps (Baiame's Ngunnhu) experienced record water lows as a result.

Budvalt also controversially acquired the Glenacre aggregation, 4 properties whose previous owners have every right to feel that they were swindled by their bank.

The local economy is hurting as much of the work available goes to backpackers. The reason is the same as why miners use "fly in fly out"- non locals don't care about local communities or ecosystems and are not across the issues anyway..

It is reported by local observers that Harris trucks damaged the local road and Harris ordered his managers not to repair the damage.Not profitable?

Occupy
Sydney report of January 2015, P & J Harris and Sons of Budvalt
Pty Ltd have engaged in more concerning major environmental law breaches
even though it appears the Office of Environment and Heritage, the
Environmental Protection Authority and the Local Land Services have no
powers to prosecute. We have been advised by the OEH that the clearing,
burning of trees in total fire bans, crop dusting of native trees and
grasses that have been reported for the last 2 years will not result in a
prosecution, it will not even go the land and environment court.

1.
Peter Harris's Budvalt was given permission to extract water from the
Barwon river at his Rumleigh, Brewarrina property to water his cotton
crop in February 2015 during a pumping embargo on the Barwon-Darling. Apparently
this was permitted by the NSW Office of Water based on his Water Access
Licence (WAL) being a Class A licence that includes Section 48 where
the irrigator can apply for special permission to pump, These licences
are usually for permanent plantings such as an orchard. This Section
must include consultation with key stakeholders including local affected
farmers and aboriginal groups. Our inquiries reveal that the consultation process was at its highest flawed. There is suspicion that it may be corrupt: for
example the local Aboriginal community were represented by an
Aboriginal representative from Moree who had no right to be talking on
behalf of the Ngemba people. This approval was delegated by then
Water Minister and local state MP Kevin Humphries to NSW Office of
Water. News reports at the time stated that the Barwon dependent towns
of Walgett and Brewarrina were experiencing critical water shortages
with other cotton growers having no such access to water when there was a
rise in the Barwon In May 2015. This process must be called
into question when determining the legality of the licence grant.

2.
In June 2015 Budvalt Pty Ltd sowed wheat into a Travelling Stock
Reserve such as Warnocks Paddock on Brewon Station at Carinda

Paddock
on Brewon Station, that were once famous for native Mitchell grass
that includes part of the ‘Warnocks Paddock” that has been subject to
ploughing and crop dusting of native Mitchell grass and native trees.3.
The Local Lands (LLS) Services website promotes that “TSRs provide
pasture reserves for travelling or grazing stock. These reserves can be
beneficial in times of drought, bushfire or flood. They are also used
for public recreation, apiary sites and for conservation. Local Land
Services manages the land to strike a balance between the needs of
travelling or grazing stock and the conservation of native species”.4.
The terms of the LLS TSR’s on Brewon Station has been totally and
perhaps illegally circumvented by Budvalt owner operators Peter and Jane
Harris and Sons.5.
Budvalt then applied to pump water for irrigation from the Marthaguy
Creek at Carinda and to do works from “Riverview” to “Geera Cotton”.6.
The advertising of this application was suspicious as the DPI only
advertised it once in the Walgett Spectator and the Koori Mail. They
would have achieved about the same coverage by advertising in the
Adelaide Advocate. If Harris had genuinely wanted the Carinda people to
know about his intention to pump from their creek he would have ensured
the attached Development Application was advertised publicly in Carinda
and was put in the print version of the Carinda Comment as one of the
editors is married to a Harris manager and lives on the Harris owned
cotton farm “Willewaa” at Carinda. 7.The
earthworks between “Riverview” and “Geera” have already been completed,
a 2 km channel has been constructed and water had already been moved
between “Riverview” and “Geera” before Budvalt applied for permission.8.
The Carinda people took up a petition to object to the pumping
application, it will be interesting to see if the DPI still approves the
application to pump. This flyer promoting the petition is also on the
Carinda Comment facebook site.

Monday, 16 November 2015

A two semi trailer CSG drill rig owned by Condor Energy has been blockaded in Coonabarabran N.S.W. this morning.No CSG activist Dan Lanzini reports that the blockade began about 8 a.m. today. Dan says "the whole community of NSW is over 90% against unconventional gas and fracking and we have seen huge problems with this industry already with B,T,E,X contamination in Gloucester, Uranium in an aquifer in the Pilliga and ground water pressure dropping all over south east QLDSantos and the NSW Government your plans to develop CSG in NSW are over the community will not have a part of it and are ready for action"The Condor Energy owned convoy which was spotted about 10 p.m. last night has been parked overnight outside the Coonabarabran Public School. Coonabarabran residents are acutely aware and concerned at the devastating impacts CSG extraction has had on water and the environment in other places and are resolute in their commitment to Stop dirty CSG extraction in their or anyone elses neighbourhood.Follow this on Facebook

Occupy Sydney are in solidarity with the blockade and all efforts to stop further fossil fuel extraction. Occupier Sara said " I don't understand why a government would not do all in its power to end dirty fossil fuel extraction when we have so many opportunities to provide clean Solar , Wind and Tidal Energy." Are you buying your energy from AGL or Origin or an expensive conventional supplier? There are options which are cheaper if you just switch supplier. They are all owned by hydro power companies. Momentum: http://www.momentumenergy.com.au/Red: https://www.redenergy.com.au/campaign/discount/nsw.htmlPowershop: http://www.powershop.com.au/how-much-does-it-cost/The Peer 2 Peer Power people are also ready to advise you on Solar and solar storage options for your own home or business.

Sunday, 15 November 2015

We have known for a long time that N.S.W. Police use widespread illegal spying. Up until now they have been emboldened by judicial blindness.

photo courtesy Sydney Morning Herald

Finally a magistrate has spoken out in a case where police had an unauthorised surveillance of a facebook account which led to charges against the alleged account holder calling out police actions as illegal. At Occupy Sydney we are well versed in illegal police activity. We see police cars speeding and parking illegally on a daily basis. We know where some of the street surveillance camera blindspots are which police routinely use to illegally search and harass young people out enjoying themselves in Sydney. We regularly get cameras in their faces when they are doing these illegal searches and some of us have been arrested. We know that the October 23rd 2011 mass police attack on the Occupy Sydney occupation and the further attacks as Occupy Sydney continued the 24-7 occupation were illegal. We know that police have support from the highest political offices to carry out their illegal actions. This farcical appeal process was instigated by then premier Barry O'Farrell. They lost. The DPP took over 12 months to pay the ordered court costs. This case is another of police exceeding their powers at the very time they are calling for the so called independent police watchdog to be disbanded. When called out by the learned magistrate senior police attempted to use the public interest to protect police from further scrutiny. Read More Here

Saturday, 18 July 2015

New Location!! The Reclaim rally has now been moved to the Martin place between Phillip and Macquarie Streets, so we'll be meeting there too.

New Time!! The racists in Reclaim Australia have shifted their rally to 10:30, so we want to be there before them to make sure we're prepared. Spread the word!

***PROTEST AGAINST RACIST "RECLAIM AUSTRALIA" RALLY***

The racist organisation ‘Reclaim Australia’ is holding another rally on Sunday July 19 in Sydney. We are calling for all those who oppose racism to mobilise in a peaceful protest to oppose their bigotry, xenophobia and Islamophobia.

PM Tony Abbott’s scaremongering about terrorism is feeding the systemic demonisation of Muslims. This, along with years of ra...cist policies towards refugees and asylum seekers from the major parties provides fertile soil for Reclaim Australia and associated entities to grow.

We must not let fascists and extreme nationalists spout their racist messages without anti-racists putting forward our views.

We are calling on people to gather at Martin Place in the space where Reclaim Australia plans to hold their protest, one hour before their event begins, to contest their rally with a large, loud counter-demonstration. We will deliver the strongest possible message to them that their racism is not welcome.

Please put aside the date, start telling your friends, and let’s make this the biggest anti-racist rally it can possibly be!

We are looking for endorsements and help with publicity, so please contact the page if you'd like to help out in any way.

Thursday, 9 April 2015

“We will not cooperate!”
Parents, kids, and friends occupy The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Melbourne.Pro refugee supporters, including parents, babies, kids, pregnant mothers, and friends will stage a 'play in' within the Department of Immigration and Citizenship today in an act of civil disobedience around the treatment of asylum seekers. The group calling themselves Families, Friends and Feminists Against Detention (FFFAD) will stage their first 'Gathering', the first of many, in solidarity with asylum seekers currently protesting on Nauru.
FFFAD organiser Nadia Mizner, parent to a 9 month old baby, stated; “The Australian government knew abuse was happening 17 months before the Moss review came out. If there was a known perpetrator in one of our schools, would we allow our kids to remain under their care? No we wouldn't. Nauru is a tiny island with perpetrators living alongside survivors even after their release. This is an issue for all parents and feminists to be concerned about. We need to close this Nauru hellhole and bring these people to the safety they were seeking in the first place, here within the Australian community. We unequivocally support the asylum seekers campaign of non cooperation in Nauru, and will now be starting our own here.” FFFAD was formed with a specific concern for the effects of mandatory detention and offshore processing on families, women and children. FFFAD expects around 50 people and kids to attend today. Leilani Turner, another organiser for FFFAD, has stated; “Mandatory detention and offshore processing dehumanizes and degrades everyone. However this system specifically ignores the health imperatives of women, both antenatal and otherwise, the seriousness of sexual violence on children and women, and the effects of family separation particularly in the context of long-term detention. FFFAD calls for an end to mandatory detention and offshore processing and justice for asylum seekers. We urge all other parents, friends, and feminists to join us as we continue our own campaign of non cooperation and civil disobedience on this issue.”

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

The animals killed at Leard State Forest have come back as Zombies! To haunt ANZ who financed their death. 'Zombie Attacks' are being organised and will escalate until ANZ commits to NEVER fund the Galilee Basin Projects, for ecological rather than financial reasons. Find out more, including how you can be a part of these fun actions at http://www.beyondgreen.net.au/animals_now_zombies. Occupy Sydney fully endorse and support all actions taken to stop the destruction of Leard Forest by Idemitsu Boggabri Coal , Whitehaven and their financiers including but not limited to those by Front Line Action on Coal and Beyond Green More here http://www.beyondgreen.net.au/animals_now_zombies

Thursday, 26 March 2015

a grassroots movement Strongly opposed to the Trans Pacific Partnership will Rally at Martin Place at Midday Saturday 18th April as part of the Global Day of Action.

The Australian people are being denied the right to know what's in the secret pact which will if passed define the decline of people power while extending the rights of corporations. If leaks are correct (and there has been no firm rebuttal from Government) then a post TPP Australia could be sued for loss of future corporate projected ﻿

Saturday, 7 February 2015

Man-made or naturally occurring Climate change is a moot point- as is the Agenda 21 issue. We know that in our lifetime Climate change is happening. Science points to a rapid and hether-to never before seen Global Climate Change event in the last 250 years.

If we wish to retain our current food and water sources then we need to address the fact that Climate is changing and with it our capacity to maintain our ongoing food and water supply.

Pro active ways of addressing Climate Change now include:

Installing Solar or Wind Power- great for your energy bills too.Cycling or using public transport where its possible.

Insulating your home.

Installing solar hot water

Leaving enough native trees on your property to allow the planet to breathe. They are our atmosphere's lungs.

Thursday, 5 February 2015

Bill 2014 was about “broad based surveillance” and should not be linked to previous tranches of national security legislation passed by the government last year.

The West Australian Senator has been at the fore of opposition to the bill, which opponents warn is unclear in its definition of what data will be available to security agencies, and counter-productive to effective intelligence gathering procedure.

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

This is a communique from Roxley Foley of the First Nations Freedom Movement.

The government is now on notice. We the descendants of the first people will no longer tolerate the oppression and injustice perpetrated by the crown and its colonialist government. We stand for all the people who respect this land and call it home. We stand against hatred and ignorance of hearts and minds. We offer the hand of friendship, we will lead the way to true reconciliation and freedom for the future of all our children. Prepare for the 9th.‪#‎prepareforthe9th‬

Roxley has issued an open invitation to Occupy Sydney participants past and present and members of the public to join grassroots First Nations sisters and brothers in this rejection of Abbott's leadership on the first day that parliament sits in 2015. Occupy participants are encouraged to support this event on February 9th and events which flow from it.

The video above shows you the big picture about how bad the TPP will be for you. But there's much more. Government's and Corporations don't have a preference as to whether they bring it in through the front or back door...and they're trying to do it in secret. The front door is by signing the agreement. The backdoor is by bringing it in in piecemeal scraps of legislation scattered across Federal State and local body jurisdictions. Some of which will bang the door shut on our freedoms.

Mandatory Data Retention will bring the TPP clause sought by Hollywood copyright holders through the back door if we let it. Under Mandatory Data Retention you will pay for your internet service provider to store your metadata for 2 years in case the government want to use it. There is nothing preventing government selling that invaluable metadata to any commercial interest should they choose to do so.

Mandatory Data Retention is one of several laws which are on the table or already enacted which will put the TPP in place via the back door.

In 2015 we have the responsibility to stand up and fight back. It is the most important battle facing Australian people as well as those of other potential partner countries in a generation. It is a battle in defence of freedom. Choose your method here.